Did you know that the CFOs of today are business intelligence sources but also risk management experts? They really have to be since they need to be ready for providing an instant reply to practically any question posed to them by their CEO regarding business performance.

Checklist Sample

That’s why savvy CFOs have monthly accounting checklists. That way, they can always stay on top of things and be ready to answer all of those important questions. Here is a sample of that checklist:

1. Leading the crusade against additional complexity and aiming at establishing more accountability, clarity, simplicity, and transparency.
2. Aiming for an integrated/unified group general ledger and rejecting more micro-management.
3. Managing all data at the proper level within the company.
4. Focusing both the board of directors and senior management on the big picture in the area of overall performance.
5. Separating the noise from the signals.
6. Seeing financial data and company activities as trends and patterns while dealing with any abnormalities.
7. Ignoring normal fluctuations within the company.
8. Establishing clear boundaries, guidelines, and principles so that managers are able to make their own decisions and manage their own data.
9. Managing by exception and trusting people to properly do what they should be doing.
10. Being tough on any deliberate abuses of that trust.
11. Using random sampling as a trust abuse deterrent.
12. Identifying the underlying causes of low-value work and then eliminating them.
13. Being brutal with cutting down the amount of general ledger accounts for reducing the adverse effect all the way up the chain of measurement and reporting.
14. Centralizing and standardizing routine work, like benefits administration, payroll, procurement, and software development.
15. Streamlining transaction processing via improved systems integration and reductions in detailed analysis.
16. Eradicating budgeting complexities because more detail won’t result in more accuracy but is more likely to do the opposite.
17. Cutting back as much as possible on measurement to end up with just six to seven measures that are utilized at each level in the company.
18. Rooting out redundant reports.

Opt For an Outsourced CFO

Although an in-house/full-time CFO could use a similar list, you might want to consider an outsourced CFO. Here at DeepSky Accounting, that’s one of our specialties. That’s how we know just how much time and money you can save when you come to us for outsourced CFO services. So, think about it. Wouldn’t you like to save a substantial amount of money every month with outsourcing?

Contact Us Today

Having an outsourced CFO can give your small or medium-sized company more opportunities for substantial growth and improved financial control. At DeepSky, we’re ready to start preparing your customized CFO plan, so contact us at (949) 200-6829. You can also just fill out our user-friendly form to see what an outsourced CFO could do for your business.